3

QUEST RESULTS

Jinwoo was convinced he’d misheard something.

……Penalty zone?

That’s when it hit him. He hadn’t done the daily quest. He had decided not to in order to test his abilities before tackling the Demon’s Castle dungeon.

To think things would turn out like this.

Rrrrrumble…

There was a trembling all around, just like what had happened in the hospital.

Fssssh.

Fssssh.

The knights encompassing Jinwoo disintegrated one by one into sand. The world was transforming.

Ha-ha……ha……

The absurdity of it all made Jinwoo chuckle bemusedly. For some reason, the system message he’d received before the quest began kept replaying in his head.

Did it mean that the quest was so difficult that he’d need luck on his side? Or was the system encouraging him to get as high a score as he could, even if it meant relying on luck?

Call it luck or coincidence, but either way, it was an opportunity. The important thing was how to take advantage of it.

Rrrrumble…

The quakes grew stronger. Jinwoo closed his eyes and allowed them to rock him around instead of trying to struggle to find his balance.

Don’t let it get to you……

Everything went silent, and he felt like his body was floating on air.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in the heart of a desert. He dropped to his knees where he stood.

“Haaaah, huff, huff.” He dug his fingers into the sand and let out a shaky breath. Fresh air entered his lungs and circulated through his body.

Finally…

“I can breathe.”

Swaddled by a sense of relief, Jinwoo flopped onto his back. Above him was an empty black sky. He took in the endless inky void. It looked just like the penalty zone he remembered.

Wait, I don’t have time for this.

Having just escaped an extremely dangerous situation, he had forgotten that this was no safe zone, either. Still, Jinwoo didn’t feel like getting up, so he called up the stat window as he was.

[HP: 93/10,270]

[MP: 202/850]

[Fatigue: 91]

No wonder he felt so drained. His fatigue was over 90.

This is the first time it’s ever gone over 90, isn’t it?

He was reluctant to lift even a finger. HP was a problem, too, but his priority was lowering his fatigue.

“Shop.”

Ping!

The words Buy and Sell materialized in midair. Jinwoo had always thought the interface was rather too simplistic, like not much thought had been put into the design, but he now welcomed the sight.

He bought the most expensive healing potion available. Once he finalized the purchase…

Hwoom.

A glass bottle containing bright-red liquid appeared in his open hand.

Pop.

Jinwoo pulled out the stopper and poured the potion into his mouth.

Gulp, gulp.

The red liquid slid down his throat and into his body.

Perhaps because it was the most expensive healing potion, he could visibly see his level of fatigue drop. Oddly enough, however, there was no change in his HP.

[HP: 93/10,270]

[MP: 204/850]

[Fatigue: 0]

His HP remained the same even as he finished drinking the potion, which was a direct contrast to his fatigue, which was now at 0.

Why is that?

Jinwoo received an answer after he shook the last drop of potion into his mouth.

Ping!

Simple enough. It was because his HP was too low.

Makes sense……

Healing magic also had limitations, so this concept was nothing new. Just as a healer’s level determined their healing ability, the potions could not treat anything outside their restrictions.

There’s a limit to what healing potions can do.

Good to know. If he were to rely too heavily on potions without knowing this, it could have really bitten him in the ass one day.

This was why firsthand experience was crucial. How did it go again? What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That’s why experience was everything. Luckily, Jinwoo had already survived the penalty zone once before.

It’s about time……

Right on cue, Jinwoo sensed the presence of some kind of life-form squirming underneath him.

He tucked his legs in and sprang to his feet. His body was light as a feather. The potion had filled him with energy.

Tmp.

Jinwoo stuck the landing and looked back.

Fsssshhh…

As he predicted, the spot where he’d been lying was now a sinkhole.

I used to think I’d die if I fell down one of those.

Now he stood at ease, watching the hole curiously. The bottom of the pit started bubbling.

Fffssshhhhh!

A pillar of sand shot up, and a tremendous centipede emerged.

Grrraaahhh!

It was exactly as he remembered.

I was terrified when I first saw one of these……

This time, it was like he was watching a video in slow motion. Jinwoo looked to the space above its head. There, he could clearly make out the red letters.

Its name was in red, the same color as Cerberus at the Demon’s Castle.

Just then, he received the quest message.

Ping!

Jinwoo was pumped when he read the message.

I’ve bought some time with this.

He still had a chance, since he hadn’t used the Instant Teleportation Stone to escape.

I’ll probably be transported back to there as soon as I finish this penalty quest.

And if the system counted the time he spent in the penalty zone in the overall time endured… He’d earn a huge amount of advancement points. He couldn’t be sure if that was how it would work.

But……

If he thought about how the system was geared to benefit him, he was certain that there’d be a positive outcome from all this.

Four whole hours!

He had been forced to reach for the Instant Teleportation Stone in under ten minutes, yet he’d somehow gained four hours for free just because of the penalty zone.

There was only one problem. Could he get out of this place safely with only 100 or so HP? Since it wasn’t possible to recover his health with potions, he had to defeat the centipedes with as little damage to himself as possible until he leveled up.

He now had a goal to strive for.

……Let’s do this.

Jinwoo equipped Kasaka’s Venom Fang.

As soon as the penalty quest began, Jinwoo rushed forward even before the centipede had a chance to make a move. Closing the gap between them in a split second, Jinwoo jumped at the creature.

Tmp!

With one strong leap, he landed on a leg about halfway up the length of its body and proceeded to hack at the creature while climbing it.

Shhhk! Shunk! Shhhk!

Each stab from Kasaka’s Venom Fang left a cut that leaked fluids.

Skreeeee!

The centipede screeched and thrashed about with every slash, like it was in pain.

Dash!

Jinwoo’s speed shot up.

Tmp, tmp, tmp, tmp!

The hunter made his way to the top of the creature in a flash, where he gripped his dagger with both hands and prepared to strike.

And…

Fatal Strike!

With the skill activated, he stabbed the centipede with all his might. The blade penetrated the centipede’s head.

Krrrk!

Yeah!

It’d been a while since he’d heard good news of any kind.

The damage from the leveled-up Fatal Strike seemed to be substantial as the centipede violently flailed.

Skreeeeee, skreeee!

But Jinwoo didn’t stop there. He maneuvered his way to its back, where it was wide open and defenseless.

Shunk!

He drove in his dagger, tightened his grip on the handle, then slid down the centipede’s back.

Shhhhhhhnnnk!

A strength of over 120 coupled with a fall from the height of a five-story building carved the centipede’s back open spectacularly.

Shhhhhnk!

Tmp.

Jinwoo landed safely.

Skreeee, skreeeeeeee!

Fluids exploded in a geyser as the centipede convulsed and crashed into the ground.

Whump!

The impact kicked up sand everywhere.

Ping!

Jinwoo fanned away the dust to check the remaining time.

That took me seventeen seconds.

It took less than twenty seconds to kill a giant centipede. It was a huge difference from how his battle against Cerberus had gone. Jinwoo’s current power was on a completely different level.

Considering how many times I leveled up since then… Not to mention all the items I’m wearing…

It made perfect sense. He was positive he could finish off the centipedes without losing any HP.

The problem is, are there enough of them to kill so I can level up?

That was the key to succeeding at the job-change quest. The only thing awaiting him if he couldn’t recover his HP would be certain death.

Just then, more columns of sand shot into the sky.

Fffssshhhhh!

Fffssshhh!

Having smelled the blood of their kind, a number of centipedes were now converging on the area.

Grrraaahhh!

Grrraaahhh!

Jinwoo’s expression brightened.

How many of them are there exactly?

Seeing all their heads poking out of the sand, Jinwoo couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

Four hours later, after battling all those centipedes, Jinwoo had leveled up four more times and was now at level 51. The penalty quest was at its end.

It was almost time to return. Jinwoo took in the sight around him. The corpses of centipedes littered the desert. Thanks to their sacrifice, he had been able to recover his HP.

Too bad there weren’t any item or gold drops……

Although that would have defeated the point of the penalty zone.

In any case, it was time to get ready.

Shop.

Humanoid monsters often dropped bags of gold, and he’d earned an additional 1,500,000 gold from Igris, so he had lots to spare.

Jinwoo spent most of it on a single weapon. He’d spotted something that was just what he needed.

It was a weapon made for battling armored adversaries and cost 2,800,000 gold. It would mean spending the majority of his savings, but there was no reason to nitpick about the price.

Gold doesn’t mean anything if I’m dead.

He made the purchase without thinking twice.

Jinwoo also bought some bandages. He gripped Knight Killer with its scary-looking sawtooth blade in his right hand and wrapped them together tightly with the bandage.

Swish, fwish.

Knight Killer felt like an extension of his hand as he took some practice swings.

At least I won’t drop it.

For a second, he considered securing Kasaka’s Venom Fang to his left hand but ultimately decided against it. It would’ve been too awkward having both hands bound. He decided that it would be better to have one free.

As he put the remaining bandages into his inventory, Jinwoo spotted the rune stone he had acquired from Igris.

Oh yeah, I forgot I had this.

Jinwoo needed whatever help he could get, whether it was an item or a skill. Without further ado, Jinwoo crushed the rune stone.

Oh…!

The description brought to mind the moment when Igris had stretched out its hand toward its sword across the room.

So that’s how it moved the sword.

A skill that would allow him to move objects with a single thought! And it didn’t require any mana, either.

If this skill can really move around anything, it’ll be a game changer.

Jinwoo tested the skill on a nearby centipede corpse.

It appeared as though Jinwoo needed to level up the skill before he could move heavier objects.

Then how about this?

Jinwoo dropped Kasaka’s Venom Fang at his feet, then held out his palm. The dagger shot into his hand.

Tak!

Wow.

He snatched the blade’s hilt and looked at it with wonder.

This’ll be a big help.

With that, he was ready to go. When he raised his head, time was almost up.

At three seconds remaining, there was a message from the system.

Ping!

And another message followed.

Ping!

The adjustment was most likely to make hunting harder so it would feel like an actual punishment.

But will there be a next time?

Jinwoo took a deep breath.

Now back to the job-change quest.

There had to be several hundred monsters awaiting him in the boss’s lair. Their numbers might have increased. To put it nicely, he was being transferred back to the dungeon, but the reality was more like he was being thrown to the wolves.

HP, mana, fatigue, items, skills, and determination. Currently, he was in a much better position than when he’d first set foot inside the job-change dungeon, but he still couldn’t help feeling anxious.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump.

His heart beat so hard, it almost hurt. He closed his eyes, trying to keep his cool.

Finally, the chime sounded.

Ping!

This is my last chance……

Jinwoo opened his eyes again…

…and was met with the sight of all the silver knights simultaneously slowly turning in his direction. However, they were not his priority. His eyes sharpened in focus as he scanned the area.

Gotta start with the mages!

His reasoning for this was simple.

If I’m right……

He hoped to confirm a theory he’d come up with in the penalty zone.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

Knights charged at him aggressively, but Jinwoo calmly stepped onto the shoulders of the knight in the forefront and launched himself into the air. From that vantage point, he could see the whole room.

Where are they?

……There! He spotted a mage not too far from him.

I knew it!

He had been correct about what he had witnessed earlier. He wasn’t just seeing things. When Jinwoo had reached his hand out through the horde of knights, he’d seen something through a small gap that hadn’t made sense at the time.

……

A mage was casting spells without pause. There was nothing out of the ordinary about a mage using magic, but Jinwoo was convinced that something was off.

If you think about it……

Where was the magic? Only the knights were directly attacking Jinwoo. He could hear the mages chanting, but none of it resulted in a show of actual power…with one exception. When one of them negated his Stealth skill with Eyes of Detection, the knights around him had paused momentarily.

Initially, Jinwoo had assumed the knights had frozen because their target had disappeared, but he’d had the belated realization while hunting centipedes in the penalty zone. Around the time he’d killed the eighth centipede, he’d pumped his fists in celebration when the standard level-up message appeared.

His HP had recovered fully. But his happiness was cut short when he had sensed something wasn’t right.

It’s easy to level up here, so why couldn’t I level up over there?

The system had warned him about the loss of HP recovery when leveling up but hadn’t said anything about not being able to level up at all. Thinking back, he was able to level up five times before the start of the job-change quest, but he hadn’t leveled up once afterward despite lasting six minutes and defeating close to a hundred knights.

Mages that weren’t casting spells and knights that didn’t award experience points. As soon as Jinwoo put these two together, a new possibility formed in his head.

Maybe……

The knights in the lair were fake. The reason they stopped moving wasn’t that Jinwoo had vanished but rather because the mage controlling them had to temporarily stop casting to use Eyes of Detection.

And if I’m right…!

He was about to test his theory. He dodged the knights who tried to grab him and made a beeline for the mage by jumping off their heads and shoulders.

……!

Jinwoo sensed the mage was starting to panic. Its chanting quickened. The knights suddenly went from solely attacking to gathering around the mage to protect it. The possibility was becoming a surety.

Tmp!

He landed in front of the mage. Without a moment’s hesitation, he stabbed it in the heart with his dagger.

Fatal Strike!

Shunk!

The mage soundlessly vanished in a puff of black smoke.

And at the same time…

Clunk, cla-clunk…

Like marionettes with cut strings, the horde of knights previously attacking Jinwoo collapsed to the ground. They were nothing but suits of armor scattered on the floor.

I was right!

Jinwoo cheered in his mind. After coming close to death multiple times, he had finally figured it out. The knights weren’t the real threat. The mages controlling them were the true targets.

The first thing I actually killed with the Knight Killer was a mage…

Jinwoo chuckled at the irony as he gazed at the abandoned robes on the floor.

He’d found his stride again, but there was no time to relish in his victory. The quest wasn’t over yet.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

The ground quaked, and Jinwoo turned to see countless knights were already swarming around him. That meant there were more mages hidden somewhere, controlling these puppets.

Knights leaped at him. Jinwoo’s right hand moved so fast, it was almost invisible.

Shwack!

The first row was sliced in half. Jinwoo blinked in astonishment.

Whoa!

It was 2,800,000 gold well spent. Knight Killer cut through the armor like it was paper. It wasn’t merely because of the sawtooth blade. As described, Knight Killer was made for battling armored adversaries, and Jinwoo could sense magic emanating from the dagger.

Who knew the shop weapons were this good?

It was quite different from public opinion, which was that store-bought weapons were a last resort, something to turn to only when there was no other alternative.

I guess that makes gold even more valuable now, doesn’t it?

At the very least, they were better than standard hunter-issue weapons. He might also be able to make a lot of money by buying weapons from the shop and reselling them to other hunters. Unlike consumable items, there was no rule that forbade him from transferring a weapon to another person.

Focus. I need to focus.

This was no time to get distracted. Knights continued converging on Jinwoo.

Shwick! Shhhk!

He cut them down in groups while avoiding their attacks, but it was clear.

This is futile.

He’d reduce their numbers only to look in another direction and see even more closing in.

Shhhk!

He beheaded another one.

I need to find the mage.

Before the headless knight hit the ground, Jinwoo hopped onto its shoulders and launched himself up.

Stealth!

Hwoom.

Jinwoo faded from sight. Of course, his aim wasn’t to hide but rather…

Ping, ping!

A high-pitched alarm chimed from all directions. He bounded from one knight’s head to the next to pinpoint the telltale eye symbols.

There are five mages in all.

He targeted the one closest to him.

……!

As soon as Jinwoo looked its way, the mage hurriedly commanded knights to protect it, but…

Hwoosh!

Kasaka’s Venom Fang flew out of Jinwoo’s left hand and straight into the center of the mage’s forehead.

Krrrk!

Ca-clang…

Hundreds more knights collapsed.

Four left.

Leaping off one knight’s head to another, Jinwoo swiftly made his way to his next target.

Wait. He looked back at Kasaka’s Venom Fang, which he hadn’t retrieved. It was time to use his new skill.

Ruler’s Hand.

When Jinwoo reached out toward Kasaka’s Venom Fang, the dagger flew back like a magnet.

Yes!

He snatched the blade out of the air. Not needing to retreat to retrieve his weapon meant he could move more efficiently. In a flash, he reached the next mage.

……!

Before it could react, Jinwoo slashed at it.

More knights fell, and now less than half their numbers remained. Victory was close at hand. The glare in Jinwoo’s eyes intensified.

Three to go.

Feeling threatened, the mages gathered in one spot, and the knights congregated together as well. The mages then began chanting in unison. Their creepy voices rang through the room as their spell was cast.

Krrrrk, krrrrk…

The knights guarding the mages suddenly crumpled as if they were under an invisible industrial hydraulic press. They re-formed into one gigantic steel golem that immediately set its sights on Jinwoo.

Gwooooooh…

Are you kidding me?

Jinwoo was genuinely amazed by the pressure coming from the monster, but he wasn’t afraid of it. He had flirted with death so many times before that he felt more animated than nervous.

STOMP, STOMP, STOMP!

The ground shook with each step the golem took. It was a force to be reckoned with.

Hwoosh.

Jinwoo readily ducked to avoid the monster’s punch.

Boom!

The metal fist grazed the stone pillar behind him, breaking it in half.

I mean, it’s pretty terrifying, but……

Jinwoo smirked. If he hadn’t figured out what was going on here, he would’ve struggled against the giant. As it was, though, he had nothing to worry about.

Gwoooooh!

As the golem prepared to smash down at him with both hands, Jinwoo charged toward it using the Dash skill instead of retreating. He then slid through the golem’s legs and came out behind it in an instant. While the golem hurried to turn, Jinwoo stepped in front of the now-defenseless mages.

……!

……!

The startled mages trembled.

Checkmate!

Jinwoo wore a contented smile. The phrase “united we stand but divided we fall” had backfired in this case, as the mages were now easier to defeat because they were all huddled together.

Jinwoo swung both daggers.

The three mages became black smoke just as the others had. The golem, which had been grasping at Jinwoo in vain, disintegrated into sand and scattered.

But Jinwoo kept his guard up.

Is it over? Or are there more?

Just in case, he braced himself until he heard the sound of a notification.

Ping!

Jinwoo held his breath. Contrary to his fears, though, the system announced the end of the quest.

Only then was Jinwoo able to let out his breath in relief. “Whew.”

It had been a difficult battle. If he’d been preoccupied with the Instant Teleportation Stone, he wouldn’t have figured out how to defeat these monsters.

I probably would’ve been figuring out when to bail.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, he had lost the Instant Teleportation Stone, and that had forced him to concentrate on the battle. The end result was an unequivocal success. His efforts would now be compensated.

Jinwoo looked at the timer.

The timer was frozen. He had survived four and a half hours in the dungeon. But that wasn’t all. It was a quest he could’ve cleared simply by enduring, but he’d forcefully ended the quest by killing all the monsters. He started getting anxious about how many points he had earned and what job he’d be able to choose based on those points.

Sounds good.

If his job was decided by how he’d responded, then the odds of him ending up with a class that would only bring him trouble would be negated. He was thankful for that.

……

The words were a little harsh, but he couldn’t exactly refute them.

It was all to level up, but……

He’d repeatedly killed monsters until he couldn’t level up anymore in instance dungeons, and he’d hunted down every single tiny magic beast hiding in regular dungeons. And even though it had never been his intention, there had been a few times he’d fought other hunters.

“The angel of death,” “corpses,” “the stench of blood…”

No matter how you look at it……

It sounded like he was destined to be an assassin class.

Jinwoo nodded. Overall, he agreed with the system’s evaluation.

I never had any colleagues to rely on in the beginning.

However, he didn’t understand why all this was being included in an analysis for a job change.

The system continued its evaluation.

……“An army of the undead”?

Jinwoo was starting to think that things weren’t going the way he’d planned.

“Wait!”

Before he could protest, the system announced his results in its usual unconcerned tone.

“……Huh?!”

Jinwoo was floored. Everything had been pointing toward assassin, so where did necromancer come from? Jinwoo stared blankly at the screen. He rubbed his eyes, but nothing changed.

The message was the same. After the denial came the anger.

I’ve never bothered with the intelligence stat, so why the hell…?!

Of all the different mage-class hunters out there, why was he assigned the rarest of the rare jobs? Ever since first awakening as an E-rank hunter, Jinwoo had always been a brawler. With the exception of the steel sword, he’d exclusively used daggers, and all the skills he’d earned up to now made him perfectly suited to be an assassin. That was why he never dreamed he would be anything but.

And yet, he’d been assigned a mage class—and a necromancer on top of that! Even though Jinwoo’s knowledge of jobs mostly came from video games, he knew the basics of what necromancers entailed. They were dreary-looking mages with an army of zombies behind them.

No matter how he thought about it, he was hard-pressed to make any connection between that kind of character and himself. Jinwoo frowned and shook his head.

……I need to calm down first.

Even if his mind was a jumbled mess right now, he had to handle this calmly. Tranquility was his special weapon. As his anger subsided, he was able to center himself.

Wait, this is reminding me of……

Denial followed by anger. Jinwoo realized he was going through the five stages of grief like a hospital patient who had received devastating news from their doctor.

I think the next step is bargaining…or maybe compromise?

But there was no way to bargain or compromise with the system. If he had to find one good thing about being a necromancer, it was that… Well, according to the system, he could command an army of his own.

The problem is that it would be an army of skeletons and rotting corpses.

Everyone would go nuts if he walked around with that kind of battalion trailing behind him. People already feared hunters as much as they admired them, and the system wanted him to become a hunter who led an army of the undead. Whether or not the job suited him, he didn’t think he could handle it.

Ping!

The system required a response. That was comforting.

At least I have a say……

Jinwoo gave a sigh of relief. If the system wasn’t forcing it onto him, it meant that there would be other opportunities. If that was the case, there was nothing to think about.

Jinwoo happily (?) declined the offer.

“No.”

As he did, the system asked him again.

Even though it was a similar question, his answer didn’t come as easily the second time. He hesitated to reply.

A hidden class……?

It sounded like something out of a video game, but hunters with unique abilities did actually exist. He’d heard stories of a hunter who could generate a shield and one who could give buffs.

Rumor has it that Yoonho Baek, guild master of the White Tiger Guild, has the ability to transform into a magic beast.

Hunters with special capabilities were recruited by large guilds and enjoyed extraordinary privileges.

Is a hidden class something like that…?

If that was the case……

It might be good to accept.

What the system had said popped into his head.

It recommended the necromancer job because I desire great power.

That meant necromancers were that powerful. Considering how most awakened beings with rare abilities were support-type hunters, this was encouraging. A special ability for fighting. Jinwoo started to get excited.

If only I could experience what it would be like to be a necromancer, this wouldn’t be as hard a decision…

But it was never that easy, was it? He couldn’t exactly make things happen to suit his wishes, and he’d never even heard of a hunter with this kind of power before. How could a mage control his own army and fight at the sa—

He didn’t have to finish that thought.

Oh……

Jinwoo looked at the remnants of the knights around him.

Those mages!

The mages from the job-change quest could have been demonstrating the necromancer abilities. The knights were their armies.

There’s no doubt.

It wasn’t easy battling knights that rushed into battle with no regard for their own lives. If he hadn’t worked out how to defeat them or if the mages had been skilled fighters……

Instead of all this scrap metal, I’d be the one on the ground.

Jinwoo turned away from the knights and raised his head. His eyes were sparkling.

I’m already a brawler.

That was the difference between him and the mages.

If a mage who could hold his own could also command an entire army… Wouldn’t that be the absolute worst nightmare for his enemies?

And maybe……

He’d always dreamed of clearing a B-rank dungeon or higher by himself. Jinwoo swallowed hard. If he continued to level up even after becoming a necromancer, the troops under his command would become stronger as well. The results of that synergy were unimaginable.

I wouldn’t be leveling up alone.

His army would advance as well.

Is it possible……?

Suddenly, he got goose bumps. Jinwoo looked up at the floating window. It was still waiting for his reply.

It wasn’t rushing him to make a decision like it usually did. Jinwoo thought to himself:

Is this what you wanted?

Of course, there was no answer. After much agonizing, he eventually reached a decision. If this would grant him power, then he would gladly accept. There was no hesitation this time.

“Yes.”

The system instantly displayed subsequent messages.

Ping!

While the system was calculating, Jinwoo unwrapped the bandage on his right hand.

Because he’d clutched the dagger so tightly, his palm was swollen and red.

“I’m going to have blisters.” He sucked in a breath.

This could easily be healed with a drop of healing potion, and not being able to use potions was proving inconvenient. He finished unwrapping the bandage and was about to put Knight Killer into his inventory when the notification sounded.

Ping!

Jinwoo reflexively turned.

Bonus points… He’d figured as much.

I don’t know what the expected time limit was, but I definitely lasted for a long time.

Jinwoo was looking pleased with himself when he was inundated with messages.

Ping, ping, ping!

What the…?

All the beeping rang in his ears, but he didn’t pay it any attention, as his mind was already on something.

A special reward?

The words jumped out at him. A reward—and a “special” one at that. He stopped short of putting Knight Killer into his inventory and focused on the message. His eyes were glued to the screen.

Before long, more messages followed.

Ping!

Shadow monarch?

Overwhelmed by the unfamiliar terms, Jinwoo hurriedly called up his stat window.

[Name: Jinwoo Sung]	[Level: 51]
[Job: Shadow Monarch]

There it was.

It’s not necromancer?

The system had clearly said Jinwoo would be able to upgrade to a higher class depending on the advancement points he’d earned. It had also mentioned that his total advancement points had exceeded the achievement threshold.

The end result was shadow monarch.

“Then this is……”

Was this the special reward the system was talking about?

Jinwoo was suddenly struck speechless.

……?

Something strange and inexplicable was happening before his very eyes. Past the message holograms, black smoke was exuding from the fallen knights littered on the ground. Nothing like this had occurred prior to the job change. Without their masters, the monsters were basically scrap metal, and yet……

Jinwoo closed the stat window and scanned the area. It wasn’t just one or two of them. The black smoke was coming off all the knights.

And with every glance at a foe emitting the black smoke, a message popped up saying that he could perform a “shadow extraction.”

Extracting a shadow?

Jinwoo couldn’t explain it, but it looked to him like the swirls of smoke were writhing in pain. It felt as if they were reaching out to him, asking him to save them. Were those actual screams he could hear…?

But……

He was utterly certain he could save them from their pain.

Shadow Extraction.

I have to personally choose a command word?

Jinwoo thought about it for a second before instinctively blurting out a word.

“Arise.”

As soon as he spoke……

“Haaaaaaaah…”

Low moans came out of nowhere as the shadows of the knights squirmed, almost like they were alive.

Jinwoo inspected his surroundings again. All the shadows around him were shifting. Soon, a black hand rose up out of a shadow. It slammed into the ground and pulled itself up.

Holy shit!

Jinwoo’s eyes were about to pop out of his head.

It looked like a person or, rather, a soldier in the shape of a human. One by one, knights covered in pitch-black armor rose from the shadows.

This is a skill?

By the time Jinwoo pulled himself together, there were tens of soldiers standing at attention.

Tens of knights surrounded him.

What in the……?

Jinwoo walked up to the knight closest to him. He placed his hand on the armor, which felt like actual metal. It wasn’t just that it looked like armor, but these were genuine knights ready to march into battle.

They’re humanoid, but…

They weren’t. Jinwoo couldn’t detect any signs of life from them. They didn’t breathe or have heartbeats.

Furthermore…

“……”

Jinwoo held in a gasp. When he looked into the eye holes of the helmet, it was like staring into the proverbial abyss. He slowly stepped away because it felt as if his body would be sucked into the darkness.

This thing was made from a shadow?

Jinwoo called up the skill window. As the system had informed him, there were new job-exclusive skills there.

[Job-Exclusive Skills]
Active skill: Shadow Extraction Lv.1, Shadow Storage Lv.1

He decided to start with the first one on the list.

After reading that description, Jinwoo understood the identity of the soldiers.

……They’re all undead.

Shadow soldiers, creatures extracted from the shadows of the dead.

Jinwoo gulped.

If they really are my army……

Jinwoo extended his arm to the right. The soldiers simultaneously turned to the right. He slowly moved his hand in front of him. The soldiers turned in unison to face front.

Jinwoo stood in the heart of the army. He lowered his hand simply to calm himself, but then…

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

The soldiers took a knee as one. He could move them according to his will.

“Whoa……!”

Jinwoo couldn’t help his exclamation or his delighted grin.

Okay, this is pretty awesome.